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KLCI extends gains on bargain hunting, stronger ringgit

KUALA LUMPUR (July 10): Bargain hunting helped the FBM KLCI close in positive territory for the second day running today, after hitting an 18-month low.

The key index rose 14.5 points or 0.87% to 1,687.13, adding to yesterday’s 8.77-point recovery from the 18-month low of 1,663.86 last Friday.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong said the positive market sentiment was also due to the strengthening of the ringgit against the US dollar, and gains on Wall Street and regional markets.

“The KLCI extended its gains today, and we believe this positive sentiment is underpinned by bargain hunting activities, as well as the stronger ringgit against the US dollar.

“The index performance is also in line with the generally positive [performance] in the Asian stock markets and the US stock markets overnight,” Leong told theedgemarkets.com.

At press time, the ringgit was trading at 4.0195 to the US dollar, up 0.75% compared with 4.0498 a week ago.

“Asian shares outside Japan climbed for a third straight session, as bank shares boosted Wall Street on Monday, although trade tensions between the United States and China continued to linger,” Reuters said.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 0.66% to 22,196.89 and South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.37% to 2,294.16. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index however ended in the red, down 0.02% to 28,682.25.

The local bourse saw 1.99 billion shares traded for a total value of RM2.23 billion.

Gainers outnumbered losers by 414 to 319, while 484 counters were unchanged.

Top Glove Corp Bhd was the day’s top gainer. It rose 8.4% to RM9.90 in active trading, with 49.4 million shares exchanging hands. Other actively-traded counters include Sapura Energy Bhd and Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd.

Counters in the red today include Dialog Group Bhd (down 1.3% to RM3.11) and Hong Leong Industries Bhd (down 3.1% to RM11.10).